Batman vs Spider-Man
by OldMondlerLover
Summary: Extremely fluffy Chandler & Phoebe one-shot...


Chandler glanced at his 8-year-old son, who looked to be in deep thought.

Or deeply annoyed that Chandler had put him on corn-shucking duty.

Jack and Erica had been getting on each other's nerves lately and when the Hannigan children arrived for the Bing's annual Labor Day cookout the arguing only escalated.

Phoebe and Mike's 7-year-old daughter Nadia adored Erica, and Erica milked that adoration for all it was worth. She got her bossy on when Nadia was around and it bled over to Jack.

And it wouldn't get any better when Emma arrived. The only thing worse than an 8-year-old girl who thinks she knows everything is a nearly 10-year-old tween who clearly _knows_ she does.

So when the twins had started going at it on the swing set Chandler separated the trio. The girls raced to Erica's room to play with their American Girl dolls.

And Jack had been put on corn-shucking duty.

Chandler turned his attention back to cleaning his grill as he listened to the girls giggling near the open window of Erica's upstairs bedroom.

He could hear Monica and Phoebe chatting in the kitchen, the sink turning on and off at varying intervals. Mike was up in Jack's room, trying to get he and Phoebe's 3-year-old son Aidan to take a nap.

Chandler smiled to himself.

The annual end-of-summer cookout had become a Bing tradition over the last seven years.

It had grown steadily from that first outing - which had featured Chandler's new grill and the patio he and Joey had installed. That first feast included him, Monica, the twins, and Judy and Jack.

Now it was a true house-full - and this year featured a new fire pit.

If Joey was in New York he was always there, though this year he was in LA. Ross, Rachel, Emma and the "celebration" baby, their now 7-year-old son Luke, always came in from the city, too.

And as always, there was Phoebe and Mike and their crew.

The Hannigans and Bings had become very close in the years since Monica and Chandler moved to Westchester County.

Mike and Chandler truly got along very well. They both had the same type of personality - and the same taste in music. Chandler had forgotten how much he loved music until he and Mike had started hanging out more. Mike even got Chandler to sing back-up vocals once in a while with a band he'd formed for fun a few years ago. Monica had found it incredibly sexy to watch her husband sing and encouraged it every chance he got.

Ironically it was Phoebe who was the catalyst for the move to Westchester - "the worst of the 'chesters" - as she'd once called it. When the spa conglomerate she worked for opened a huge new location there she opted to be transferred to the suburbs and they moved.

They now lived about 10 minutes away from Monica and Chandler. Mike started doing some legal work for some musicians he knew through his piano bar gig and now practiced law part-time again to help make ends meet.

They were very happy and the close relationship they had with the Bings only made life sweeter.

And Chandler was grateful for it. He'd felt for a long time that he and Phoebe had lost their friendship along the way and, now, it was back - different - but back once again.

"Hey, Dad?" Jack said, bringing Chandler out of his reverie.

"Yeah?"

"Batman versus Spider-Man, who would win?"

"Batman."

"No, Dad," Jack said, clearly disappointed in his father's answer. "Don't think so."

"What?" Chandler said, setting down his grill scrubber and turning to his son. He watched as Jack placed the last of the shucked corn into a large bowl and carefully picked up every last piece of corn silk remaining to put in a bucket for the compost bin at the back of their yard.

It was very Monica-esque, and Chandler tried very hard not to smile.

"Spider-Man would win." Jack said matter-of-factly.

"How can you say that?" Chandler said. "Batman has the Batmobile."

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Which he has to go _all the way back_ to the Batcave to get," Jack countered. "Spider-Man has webby powers on his _body_. He's mobile."

"Batman has Robin."

"Spider-Man doesn't need a sidekick," Jack said.

"Fine, you know what, let's ask Aunt Pheebs," Chandler said, feeling he needed some backup.

He turned toward the open kitchen window.

"Hey Pheebs?" he hollered.

She looked out behind the screen.

"Yeah?"

"Could you come here a second, please?" Chandler said, eyeing his son. "We've got an important superhero question for ya."

"Oh, sounds serious," she said, without a hint of sarcasm as she left the window and came out the sliding glass door.

She quickly surmised there was a father-son standoff taking place.

"What's the question, Jack?" she asked.

"Batman versus Spider-Man, who would win?" he said, standing with his hands on his hips, looking every inch like Chandler when he was annoyed.

Phoebe stifled a giggle.

"Oh, clearly Spider-Man," Phoebe said, seriously.

"Ha!" Jack said, casting a smug look at his Dad. "Told you."

"Clearly?!" Chandler said, hands on his hips, too. "How can you say that?"

"He has the webby powers," Phoebe said, with a wave of her hand. "He can go from building to building. He's stealthy."

"Batman is the Dark Knight," Chandler said, incredulous. "You can't _be_ more stealthy than that!"

Phoebe and Jack exchanged a disbelieving look and Phoebe shrugged.

"Spider-Man's just cooler, right, Jack?"

"Very much cooler," Jack said, giving Phoebe a hug. "Thank you, Aunt Pheebs!"

She ruffled his hair.

"Here," Chandler said, handing the bowl of corn to his son. "Take this to your Mom. She's gotta doctor it up for the grill."

Jack gave his Dad a beaming smile as he took the bowl from him and Chandler couldn't help but grin back.

"Get outta here," he said as he pretended to kick his son in the pants. Jack laughed as Phoebe opened the door for him then turned back and sat down on the patio chair.

"Poisoning my son," Chandler mumbled to her, with a smirk.

Phoebe laughed.

"_I'm_ not poisoning him," she defended. "I'm just trying to reverse the damage you've caused."

She winked at him and he laughed.

"Wow, did you ever think those conversations about superheroes would come in handy some day?" he asked.

"You don't know what you might need when you grow up and have kids who are growing up together," she said, as she smiled and picked up a couple corn silks Jack missed.

"Especially after you grow apart?" he asked, softly, pulling out a chair and sitting next to her.

Her smile faded a bit.

"Especially after you grow apart," she repeated.

For a moment they just looked at each other.

"What…happened to us then, Pheebs?" he asked. "I mean, I feel like whatever it was we're past it but, I don't know, I just always wondered…"

She looked at him and then shook her head.

"You didn't need me anymore," she shrugged.

"Whatta mean 'I didn't need you anymore'?"

She sighed.

"You were like…like a little brother back then," she said, sitting up in her chair. "I mean I was close to Ross and Joey but you…I kinda felt like I needed to protect you from yourself - kick your ass a little when you needed it."

Chandler smiled at that.

"When you and Monica got together, you didn't need that…" she said, her words drifting off.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat. "I had plenty of ass kicking then."

"Exactly!" she said, then she saw him grinning at her and she took his hand. "I was always happy for you and Monica, I hope you know that, I just kinda…I don't know, felt like I lost you."

Chandler nodded. He and Monica had built their own little world when they became a couple - and they still lived in it to this day - but they'd definitely learned that their friends and family had a place there, too.

"I don't blame you," Phoebe said. "That's what happens when you fall head over heels in love…and there's not a bunch of drama involved."

They smiled at each other.

"I totally understand it now," she said.

"Mike's a great guy," Chandler said, nodding. "I'm glad we've gotten to know him so well."

"He considers you his best friend," Phoebe said, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'm really happy about that. Its…its brought us closer, too."

Chandler squeezed her hand back and smiled.

"You know," he said, shifting a little in his chair. "I don't think I ever told you how much it meant to me to…give you away at your wedding."

She smiled brightly and nodded, her eyes growing misty.

"I was glad _you_ did," she whispered. "And it meant a lot to me that I was able to help pick out Monica's engagement ring…even though the musket would've been more original."

He laughed. "Ah, yeah, that was quite an…experience."

"We worked pretty well together trying to get the ring back, though, huh?" she smiled.

"Yeah," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Kinda like Batman and Robin."

She squished up her nose.

"More like…James Bond," she said, triumphant look on her face.

"Oh…007," Chandler said, excitedly. "Oh, but he's an international spy, not a superhero…"

"Ugh, are you talking about superheroes, too?!" Erica whined as she came onto the patio, Nadia in tow. Emma trailed behind them, iPad in hand.

"Hi Uncle Chandler, Aunt Phoebe," Emma said, barely glancing at either of them, while she continued to walk toward the swing set clubhouse. "Come on, girls, let's dance to my new app!"

Erica hung back a moment.

"Jack and Luke are fighting over who is the best superhero, Batman or Spider-Man," she said to Dad, rolling her eyes, clearly disgusted. "It's so stupid."

"Hey," he said. "You shouldn't say 'stupid,' and that's just what boys do, honey."

"It's stupid because they are both wrong," she said, exasperated. "The best superhero isn't Batman or Spider-Man."

"Really?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Who is it?"

"Wonder Woman."

"Yeah, girl power!" Phoebe said, giving a smiling Erica a high-five.

"Wonder Woman?" Chandler asked, incredulous. "How do you figure that?"

"She's got an invisible plane and the lasso of truth, you can't beat that," Erica said, throwing her hands in the air. "Duh!"

Chandler frowned thoughtfully and shrugged.

"Erica!" Emma called out, and Erica took off for the swing set.

"She is _so_ your daughter," Phoebe said, shaking her head and watching Erica run across the back yard.

Chandler smiled.

"Duh!" he said dramatically.

And Phoebe laughed.

_**NOTE: Just a fun little friendship one-shot. This one's for you Chrisi :) and anyone who follows me on Twitter may know this story was born out of a real-life moment. But the Phoebe/Chandler talk was inspired by a "Honeymoon" review from Mondler2014, which I happened to agree with. Hope you enjoyed it!**_


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